A Grim State of Friendship
by Uzumaki-Kariudo
Summary: For 12 long years the Grim Reaper has been humiliated and forced to be friends to two mortals. Now that he begins to accept it, things change...but will it bring about the downfall of the Underworld? Or just the Grim Reaper as we know him?
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** I do not own The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic for this cartoon, and I'm trying to keep as close to how I think they would be like without them straying too far out of character. It's not the greatest, but hey. Please review.

**Chapter 1**

Click, Click, click...

Static.

Click, click, click...

More static.

Click, click, ka-CHUNK.

Grim watched in mild amusement and disgust as Billy threw the remote at the wall, complaining that all that was on was re-runs. Never mind that those "re-runs" were all just static because the cable box was not on.

"Hey Grim?"

Grim started from dozing and looked over at Billy. In the dozen years Grim had known him, he had not changed much. A little taller, yes, but in ways just as stupid as he had been as a kid. At age 22 he had finally decided that he wanted to live somewhere else and moved in with Erwin into a small apartment, despite his mother wailing that he was still just a baby. Grim had no idea how he was paying his half of the rent, but he was sure that was the only reason Erwin did not make him leave with all the things he broke.

"Yah, Billy?" Grim asked, expecting him to ask for something stupid and demeaning to do with his scythe.

"Where's Mandy?"

...Actually, that was a good question. Being a weekend, usually Mandy was over here bothering Grim to do things for her. In all, he hadn't seen her for more than a week, and it was beginning to make him wonder. It wasn't like her to ignore them for more than a week at a time, and even when she was really busy she would at least call to make sure that Grim was cleaning her apartment for her while she was away at business.

"I don't know, but I think it's about time we go see." Grim said, standing. Instantly his scythe was in hand and he wandered out the door, Billy trailing close behind jumping in glee to be able to go over to Mandy's place.

"Remember da rules, Billy." Grim told him firmly, knowing that the warning it was not likely to stay with him for more than five minutes. Billy saluted sloppily and rushed the door as soon as Grim had it unlocked. He was still slightly amazed that Mandy had trusted him with the spare key to her apartment. At the time he had asked what if she acquired a boyfriend and she laughed at him, asking if he truly thought she of all people would attract such a love interest. He kept his opinions to himself, knowing that if he didn't he was likely to find his head the the sewers or something; and the matter was dropped.

"Mandy? Are ya' home?" Grim called, and Billy ran throughout the small apartment calling her name, knocking over various things as he passed them. Grim left him searching the couch cushions for her and trailed through the kitchen.

"Hmm...something ain't right here." He spoke to himself, eying the dirty dishes in the sink. Mandy was a stickler for keeping her place clean, and some of those dishes looked nearly a week old. He checked in the spare room used as an office and found no sign that she had been in there recently. After a fruitless search of the rest of the apartment he came to her bedroom door.

No one but Mandy was allowed in there.

Up until she had turned 17, she made him clean her room, but quite suddenly it had become off limits to him and anyone else. He wasn't surprised actually. He had been expecting it for a while, as he knew most females required privacy and a place to be themselves once they reached a certain level of maturity. He was actually quite relieved, as it meant that a portion of his workload was also cut off, including the laundry. Why something like laundry was cut off of his chore list, he didn't really know. The idea that she was embarrassed of certain articles of clothing made him laugh. Very rarely was she embarrassed by anything a normal girl would be.

He knocked softly, and pressed his head against the door to see if there was a response. He heard a slight shuffling and that was it.

"Mandy?" He called, and knocked harder in case she was involved in a book. When she was, only annoying her got her to look up from the pages, if only to glare or to give a nasty rebuke. There was a muffled thud of something small and somewhat lightweight falling, and some coughing.

"Mandy? Are ya' alright girl?" Grim didn't like that she hadn't yelled through the door yet. Something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what yet. Maybe she was sick?

"Go away."

It was faint, but it was a reply. Her voice sounded oddly thick, and tired. Grim frowned.

"Are ya' sure? What's da matter?"

"I said, GO AWAY GRIM!" Mandy bellowed through the door. It was shortly followed by a severe coughing fit, the sound of which reminded him of smokers in hell who were forced to forever cough up blood and organs.

Now he was really worried.

"No."

And with that he opened the door.

At first he just stood and looked around the room. It wasn't so much different than he had imagined it, except for the colors. With as colorful and bright as Mandy's wardrobe had stayed through the years, her room seemed to have had the opposite result. The main color was still pink, but most everything else was black and dark gray, tastefully applied to give the room depth. Dark stained hardwood floors, deep pink walls, and swathed in black fabric. Changed from pink to red, and it would be a look he wouldn't mind in his castle back in the Underworld.

The furniture was all matching cherry wood antiques that made him wonder just how much money she made. Aside from the large vanity filled with various notes, one framed picture of the three of them, and very little in the way of make-up and perfume; the main focus of the room was the four poster master bed. Draped in layers of sheer black fabric, he could barely make out the form of Mandy laying in bed through the curtains. Around the sides of the bed was used tissues overflowing a wastebasket, cough drop wrappers and a box of tissues laying on it's side. He supposed that it was the tissues he heard fall earlier. In his wonder of the room, he did not notice that Billy had come up beside him and was also staring in amazement on finally seeing behind the mystery that had been Mandy's bedroom door. He did, however, when a clock narrowly missed his head and got Billy full in the face with such force that it sent him reeling backwards out of the room.

"GET OUT!!" Mandy screamed at them, and fell into a fit of coughing worse than the last. Grim simply shut the door behind him, telling Billy over his shoulder to stay in the living room for a while. He turned from the door as the bedside lamp smashed inches from his jaw, leaving a jagged scrape in the wood.

"Ya' must be sick if yer aim is that bad." Grim strode across the room to the edge of the bed, and threw open the curtains without thinking of what state of dress Mandy might be in. He turned red as Mandy quickly grabbed a small pillow to cover her naked chest with and glared through bloodshot eyes up at him, clad only in a black thong. Disheveled and with the blankets down around her knees, Grim was forced to realize just how much she had grown. Mixed thoughts and feelings filled his head until he mentally shook himself, wondering what the world had gotten into him when he was looking at Mandy of all people as sexy...even when she was obviously sick as a dog. Disgusted with himself and glad that Mandy couldn't read minds for more reasons than just the thoughts he just had, he placed a hand on her forehead as though nothing was amiss besides her cold. He drew his hand back quickly though as she swiped at it.

"Yer burnin' up girl!" He exclaimed. Her temperature had to be at least 103.

"Grim, leave now or I'll tie your skull to the 3:30 Express. I can take care of myself." Mandy growled. Grim shook his head and started tidying around the bed, straightening the covers that she had kicked aside back over her, and folding the heavier blankets at the end of the bed.

"Ya' gonna need help if yer gonna get well any time soon." Grim scoffed, and ignored her glare as he puttered around the room picking up the various tissues and clothes and stuffing them into their respective bins. He tied up the bag containing the trash and with it in hand, walked out the door.

"I'll get ya' some soup and medicine." Grim shut the door behind him.

Mandy was NOT happy.

It was bad enough having a very nasty flu which left her weak and tired, but it was humiliating for her to be cared for by the Grim Reaper, which made it all that much worse. She was furious that he had come into her room without her permission and saw her in her vulnerable state. It was frustrating that she could also not do anything but half-heartily yell at him while she was so weak.

In short, there were too many emotions for her to feel at once and it made her cranky.

She wondered why he was taking such attentive care of her. When he was not cleaning, he was at the side of her bed, either trying to get her to eat something or dampening the wet washcloth on her forehead in cold water. Granted, it was nice to have him care for her, but it made her confused, an emotion that she did not like in the least at any time. While he was throwing out the garbage and getting a new bag for the can, she had changed into a light night shirt and shorts, despite already being overheated. She hadn't missed the blush on his cheekbones when he saw her nearly naked, and she was glad that she was already red from her illness for him to not have noticed her own blush. She brushed aside the brief puzzlement on how a skeleton could blush with no blood, and focused on planning her revenge for the embarrassment of being treated like an invalid.

Despite having the world's most cranky patient, Grim was having some fun caring for Mandy. This time it was him giving the orders, and even though they were small ones like "sit up" or "lay down", it was a small thrill. He was sure that his attentiveness to getting her well again puzzled her, and he gained some amusement from that. Despite all the abuse they hurled at each other, usually one-way, he saw Mandy as a sort of a friend and was concerned for her health. Over the years he had come to like her prickly and cynical attitude towards the world. And besides, with her bed-ridden he could taunt her without immediate retaliation. He wasn't stupid enough to consider her an invalid though. He rubbed his cheek gingerly; he deserved the slap he got for making 'choo-choo' noises when he tried feeding her soup and even sick her left was still good.

It was nearly dusk when he finally left her for the night. He found Billy curled up in a ball sleeping in the middle of the floor amid the cards Grim had given him earlier to entertain himself with. It looked like he had been playing a violent game of 52 pick-up, and there was a card stuck to the side of his face as he drooled and snored in his sleep. Grim woke him and sent him home and then settled himself on the couch after he was sure that Mandy was peacefully asleep, and thought on the thoughts and feelings he had experienced earlier that day when he first saw Mandy.

At first he was disgusted, then embarrassed, then ashamed for the spark of lust he had felt for her. He was sure that in ways he loathed Mandy for all that she put him through. In a way he was also glad that he had lost to her over the mangy fur ball of a hamster that had died not more than a year later because the cat had eaten him. Some of their adventures were fun, or at least somewhat amusing when he looked back on them and though learning humiliation from a little girl was more than he could bear sometimes, he was glad that he had been forced to be their friend.

Now with these new thoughts and feelings he was re-evaluating himself. While he had to admit that she had grown into an attractive woman, he felt it was wrong for him to feel anything other than friendship toward her since he had essentially watched her grow from a young girl into what she was now. His main dilemma now was if he could take her life when the time came now that he realized that he actually cared for her a great deal.

He supposed that he would have to. He was not in love with her, a thought that made him cringe, so he had no lasting tie to her after she died. When her time came, he supposed that he would still see her from time to time, depending where in the Underworld she wound up. She wasn't on the list for re-incarnation anytime soon after her death, so it was possible that she would simply find her place in his world and frighten people there.

He snorted in contempt when an idea floated up from the back of his skull that maybe she had feelings toward him akin to his own. Even if she did feel friendship towards him, he did not consider him an object of affection for any girl, least of all Mandy who had never willing felt affection for anything but her old dog Saliva. And even then he wasn't sure if it was affection she had felt for the drooling creature that would steal his bones and bury them in the yard, or just tolerance of the stupid animal because he was hers.

Just like Grim was hers.

To hell with it all...He would just wing it. Nothing was going to change anyways as long as he didn't act or do anything different.

After two hours of thinking, he finally dozed off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** I do not own The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, yadda, yadda.

For those who read the first chapter before I fixed it, I hope the new edit works much better, and thanks very much for the positive reviews. I'm trying to update more often, so sorry about the delays. The story line will progress faster and become more interesting soon, I swear.

Kudos to those who know which Anime it is that's mentioned.

**Chapter 2**

Grim roused, hearing a faint sound and opened one 'eye' to see Mandy shuffling quietly towards the kitchen in the early morning light filtering through the shades.

"Mornin' Mandy. How ya' feelin'?" Grim yawned and sat up. She shot a small glare at him that he missed while stretching.

"Fine, Bonehead. You can leave now, I'm not so sick that I need help with everything." Mandy croaked, her throat still raw from coughing. She felt her chest tighten as her body threatened to explode with more coughing, but she swallowed it down as best as she could and hoped that Grim didn't notice. In this weird mother-hen mode he had taken on it would take her forever to get him to leave if she started with the sickening racking sounds again like yesterday.

She continued her shuffling toward the kitchen, faintly annoyed when she heard Grim get off the couch and follow her. Ignoring him, she made coffee and grabbed an orange and sat down at the small table fully prepared to ignore him as she ate her small breakfast. She ate the orange fast, hoping that if she did that she wouldn't have to make another offering to the porcelain god this morning. She stared at the coffee maker, willing in her mind to process the caffeinated beverage faster when a banana was lowered in front of her face. She titled her head enough to glare up at Grim who dangled the fruit in front of her face for a few seconds longer and then simply laid it on the table in front of her.

"The potassium will help settle yer stomach." He swept the orange peelings off the table into his other hand and threw them away for her. She glared down at the banana for a moment, not hungry in the slightest anymore, but knew that he was right. As she picked it up and began peeling it, she thought of something and rather than waste her energy yelling at him to leave, she decided to distract him from coddling her by asking him questions. It would at least give her time to perfect her plan for revenge on him.

"When did you suddenly become nurse of the year?" She grumbled and took a bite of the banana, ready to bolt to the bathroom if need be. She was relieved when after two bites her rolling stomach came to a stop and finally settled without complaining too much more. Grim paused in surprise at her question and set down the raspberry syrup before answering her.

"Just because I'm the Grim Reaper doesn't mean I haven't looked after a sick person once in a while."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"And I was bored and read your Health text book a while back."

The light on the coffee maker blinked on, and he removed the pot and prepared her coffee the way she always had it. Bit of sugar, some chocolate shavings and a bit of raspberry syrup. Since she had made more than she could drink on her own, he poured himself some, only with nothing added. He handed her mug to her and sat down in the opposite chair. She stirred the dark liquid with a stir stick from the glass of them in the middle of the table, and waited until he had taken a large gulp of his coffee before asking a question that she had wondered about for a long time.

"Where does it go?" He choked and dribbled coffee down his front. Coughing, he set the cup down as to not spill any more and wiped absently at the liquid that had already soaked into his robe.

"Pardon?"

"The coffee. Where does it go? You eat and drink, but you're a skeleton." She said flatly, taking a small sip of the hot coffee.

"Why do ya' want to know? Does it really matter?" He tried to steer her away from that conversation unsuccessfully as he was sure it was bound to lead down more embarrassing paths.

"Just tell me." She stared at him over her cup, annoyed. He knew that tone and knew that it could potentially mean trouble for him. Not that he wasn't in trouble already, once she was better he knew that the quiet interlude from her wrath would end on a painful note. For him at least. He thought for a moment on how to word it.

"Well...It's sorta like 'phantom' organs. If I need it, it appears. Not really visible most of the time, more like a shadow of it." He was relieved that she nodded, understanding, as he didn't want to try to explain it any further than that.

"So that explains your tongue and how you can eat." Mandy nodded. She watched him, and he began to sweat, half expecting the other shoe to drop any moment. That she would ask him something embarrassing. She stared at drank her coffee, and he sat sweating, his coffee nearly forgotten. He didn't know why he had such an aversion to explaining things about himself to her. She had learned plenty of embarrassing things about him in the years they had known each other, and he was sure that somewhere she had pictures of some of them. She actually reminded him a bit of a character he had seen in an Anime recently of a girl called 'Nabiki' if he remembered the name right. Always plotting and scheming, though Mandy was better at hiding it from others. However, some things about himself (like his anatomy) he would rather leave unexplained to her. After a long silence, Grim finally remembered that he had a mug in his hands and tried to quickly finish his much-cooled coffee before she decided to see if it was possible for him to inhale it down the wrong 'pipe'.

She simply finished her coffee and set the mug a bit away from her, a signal for him to take it away. He did so, in the process also snagging the banana peel to toss. He was rinsing their mugs when she spoke up again. Already in his mind's eye he could see a boot hitting the ground with a solid 'thud'.

"So your body functions much like a normal human males?"

He cringed.

"Uh, yeah...I guess so." He was glad he was facing away from her as he knew his entire skull was probably blushing brilliantly at this point, but would have been gladder still to be somewhere else not having this conversation.

"Why the sudden interest anyway?" His mind made a horrible detour down thoughts he would rather not have to face. Several stuck foremost, mainly wondering if she thought he had carnal desires toward her or others, or wanked in the shower, or something of that sort.

"No reason." Was her cryptic reply, as they both knew that she always had a reason for asking any question. A strange humming and beeping noise filled the air and he was never more glad to hear it. He set the cups down on the drying rack and summoned his scythe, he pressed the top of it, and a small glowing screen slid down from the blade. The head and shoulders of a yellow-green insect-like demon appeared and he brightened when he saw that Grim had answered.

"What is it Norman?" Grim asked. The demon dubbed 'Norman' glanced over his shoulder at Mandy briefly and when Grim made no move to make the conversation to follow private, he spoke.

"Mr. Reaper. Sorry, but your presence is required. The Council of Horrors just finished a meeting and want to talk to you immediately about the future of your kingdom." He was visibly nervous and became even more so when Grim frowned deeply, not pleased with this news in the least. Norman glanced several times between Grim and the mortal girl at the table who gave him her usual glaring stare. Grim nodded to him and he snapped to attention.

"I will be there as soon as possible." The demon bowed his head and the screen blanked out then disappeared back into the blade. He turned to pace into the living room, using his free hand to rub at his jaw. He did not like this one bit. If the entire Council of Horrors had gathered to meet without him there to discuss _his_ lands, then it could only be a few things and none of them were good. Mandy got up from the table and joined him in the living room, curious.

"I'm gonna have to go and sort dis' out Mandy. I might not be back for a couple days." He said, his voice and manner clearly told her that he was not going to ask for her permission to go and did not need it. She hadn't seen him this serious in a long time.

"I'm going too."

"No yer not."

Mandy glared at him darkly. His flat refusal was met with a cold stare of his own and it was clear that he was not going to back down on this matter.

"This is none of yer business, mortal. It is a matter for Council members only, and ya' don't need to get involved. I will be back as soon as possible." With that he twirled the scythe, ripping himself open a portal and quickly disappearing into it, leaving a very irate Mandy standing in the middle of her apartment.

"We will see, Bonehead." She stalked into her bedroom and slammed the door, regretting it when the noise sparked her migraine again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **Copy and paste usual disclaimer.

**Additional:** Holy hell the movie is so awesome! Guess what other movie I watched recently and you win…something. I dunno.

Chapter 3

Grim appeared in the great hall of his castle. He knew that Mandy in typical fashion would find some way of getting to the Underworld herself to find out what was going on, but at the moment that wasn't a concern in his mind. He could take care of it when it happened.

Besides, he already padlocked his chest, so it would take her a bit longer to get into it.

An underling saw him and quickly bowed before going to let the rest of the castle know that their Lord had returned. Grim walked over to the large chair that dominated the end of the great hall up a couple stairs and sat down. A dark mist drifted through the half-open curtains the underling had disappeared through and settled next to the chair before solidifying into a demon that looked vaguely feline cloaked in layers of different shades of purple fabric. Its long antennas twitched as it bowed to him and Grim sighed and waved a hand at it irritably.

"Stop playing at dat groveling servant bit Artien an' tell me what's going on." Grim frowned when Artien shifted and was silent for a moment.

"I don't know exactly, but it has something to do with your lands and title. The Council is ready and waiting for you now." Grim frowned and stood, walking towards the door to the Council chamber with Artien floating after him.

"I have a feelin' I ain't going to like dis one bit."

Mandy meanwhile had changed into jeans and a T-shirt and was dragging Grim's chest out of the coat closet. After a couple embarrassing ends to adventures, she had learned it was better to wear pants.

"Nice try Grim." She smirked at the large padlock and took out a couple lock picks she always kept hidden in her hair band after she once accidentally locked herself out of her apartment. She tucked the cough-drop into her cheek and kneeled down to begin working on the lock. A few moments later there was a faint click and the padlock slipped open and hung loosely from the chest until she wrenched it off and tossed it to the floor.

After a lot of rummaging ("Just how much crud does Bonehead _keep_ in here?!") she finally found something that might be of some use to her.

"What is this?" She held up a black velvet choker that had a skull hanging from it which looked remarkably like Grim. As she inspected it she found on the inside an inscription.

"'Travel where you like, no portal needed. Made in Hades.'" Not really wanting to know why Grim had what was obviously a choker meant for a woman sitting in the bottom his trunk she put it on. Nothing happened.

"Come on, how do you work this stupid thing. Uh…take me to where this Council meeting is…choker… thing." She attempted. Still nothing.

"Take me to the place where Grim is!" She growled. She was about to rip the thing off and go looking for something else to try to use when there was a flash of red light from her neck and she became dizzy as the world around her tilted and faded from view. Her gorge rose as the surroundings fuzzed and then focused to somewhere very different from her small two bedroom apartment. She gazed up at the castle that loomed before her as she suddenly found herself standing on a bridge in a nightmare-like place. It was a combination of typical horror-movie castle meets fantasy castle, but with a modern twist; something she would normally expect to result in a hideous bastard child of castles everywhere, but was actually done quite tastefully in this one. Fighting the urge to run to the edge of the bridge to use her vomit to see how far down the bottom of the abyss that surrounded the castle was, she marched up to where two guards stationed outside the closed portcullis watched her curiously.

"The Grim Reaper." The page announced his entrance to the Council chambers. He felt a bit nervous with the way everyone's eyes were on him as he made his way to his place and sat down.

"Good afternoon everyone. May I ask what dis is all about?" He asked coldly. A few of the Council members shifted nervously while others returned his cold look or frowned slightly. There was silence for a moment while they all waited for one of them to stand up and volunteer to voice their reasons. Finally a beautiful vampire almost directly across from him at the large round table decided she had had enough of the wait and leaned forward to address him.

"Lord Reaper. In light of events in the last few years, we felt it necessary to review your position. You are often away from your duties here to maintain your contract with the mortals on the surface world and though you manage to fulfill your duties there and in our world we feel that it would be best for everyone if there was a change." There were nods from all around and Grim frowned, the bad feeling in the back of his head growing stronger.

"And what change is dat? If you mean to have me fired den on what grounds? I do my work and have broken no treaties or laws." He glanced around the table, trying to assess the mood of the situation, ignoring that the vampire was showing him a lot of cleavage in an attempt to get on his good side. She pouted slightly as his refusal to stare and continued.

"We feel that to make sure that the quality of maintenance of your lands and your reaping keeps in par, that it would be best if you took on a…partner…of sorts to split the work." She smiled slyly, and while that look on that particular woman's face made him wary, he couldn't help but feel relieved at her words.

"Is that all? You all want me to find a partner to even the workload?" Grim ignored the little feeling in the back of his skull that was shrieking that this couldn't be it, that there had to be some sort of catch.

"Let me through." Mandy demanded. The guards glanced at each other and then the one with three eyes and small leathery wings protruding from behind his hulking shoulders glared down at her.

"What…business do you have…within the castle?" He read from something written on one palm. The other piped up with "Yeah, waddya want?!" and got a hissed 'Shh!' from the other.

"I need to talk to the Grim Reaper." She glared at him as his small mind tried to process it.

"Uh…if you are one of them…girls, then you're gonna need to be in the lobby here soon." He said, the two main eyes glaring at her, but the third squinting at her uncertainly. He turned and knocked on a small door in the stone to one side of the portcullis and after a second a small blue fluffy creature with boots and gloves as limbs and a human-like face among the fuzz in the middle of its mass opened it and leaned out. The guard whispered to him and gestured to her. The fuzzy creature looked her over and snorted.

"You're not spooky…are you? You don't look…spooky." She glared at him and it suddenly looked glad to have the guard between her and it. "Scary…yes, but not spooky. Go away, you don't belong here!" The creature disappeared back within the door and it slammed shut and the guard resumed his position and glaring at her.

"You heard him, go away!" When it became apparent that he was not going to let her aside without the approval of the fluffy blue man, she stalked away to the middle of the bridge where she had appeared.

"Home." She demanded of the choker and this time was rewarded with it activating right away and this time she was ready for the shock of the traveling without a portal.

"Not spooky, huh? We'll soon see about that. Idiot." She muttered as she headed straight for her closet.

"Actually, since it has to be a binding partnership to prevent one from turning on the other…you must take a wife." She smirked at him as he suddenly froze.

"WHAT?!" He couldn't help from blurting out in shock. Outside where Artien was listening the best it could through the wall, cringed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Forth verse, same as the first.

**Note:** Sorry that the last two chapters were so short, and for taking so long to update. I've been busy with real-life shit.

This chapter should be a bit longer (I think), but I'm afraid that there is a bit of OOC going on, so please bear with me.

Thanks again for all the positive reviews people!

**Chapter 4**

Mandy appeared on the bridge again, determined to get through to the castle, and felt that once that she was done with this cold if she never saw another cough drop in her life it would be too soon. Marching up to the two guards, she stopped before them and glared. They didn't seem to recognize her, which was affirmed when the one that had spoke to her before read from his sweaty palm again.

"What business…do you have at…the casale…sorry, castle." The other piped up with the same words he used before with the same response from his partner. Mandy felt her headache returning full force through the migraine meds with the deja-vu.

"I'm here to see the Grim Reaper." She growled. A spark of long-lost intelligence flared in the guard's eye and he peered down at her.

"You're not the human again, trying to trick us are ya'??" He looked her over skeptically and for a moment she was surprised that he was not stupid as he seemed. For a moment she wondered if her outfit was really going to work when faced with this hint of sensibility, but preceded with her plan nonetheless.

"If I was human, I wouldn't have a tail!" She feigned being indignant, and turned slightly to show him her 'tail'. The tail, as it was, was nothing more than a wide length of ribbon tied to her belt. Her half-formed thought of the guards not being so stupid sputtered and died completely when he immediately brightened and stood straighter.

"That's a relief! Sorry, but a human tried getting in earlier, so we gotta be careful. No offense, miss. " He turned and knocked on the door to get the attention of the blue creature again. He whispered to the part of the fuzzy head that she supposed its ear was located and it looked over at her with a frown that seemed to be its usual facial expression. It studied her for a moment, looking her over from the tip of her steel-toed boots, over the fishnet stocking, black and red strap and chain laden skirt (which was a bit shorter than she had remembered it being) black fishnet shirt with black tube top, and the red streaks in her hair woven with black ribbons. As an afterthought she had tied one of the ribbons onto her belt to act as a 'tail' when she was putting on her studded bracelets; experience telling her that the people down here were stupid enough to buy it as a real tail. With dark make-up and lipstick, she looked very gothic-punk, which seemed to be the general idea of what "spooky" was down here. She glared at the thing as it looked her over and it hastily dropped its eyes away from hers and motioned for her to follow it.

"Come this way, we must hurry if you are to be on time."

Wondering what she was supposedly driving to be on time _for_, she followed him, stepping over the lip of the doorway and into the faintly lit darkness of the hall beyond. The door shut behind them.

Grim suddenly realized that he was on his feet and sat hastily, ignoring the amused smirk from the Vampiress. There were a few sympathetic looks from various points at the table, but he did not notice them except in passing.

"We do realize it as being a bit of a shock to you, Mr. Reaper, especially for a bachelor such as yourself. However it has been voted that either you take a wife, or step down from your position." A tentacle creature several seats over to the right of the Vampiress intoned, two sets of tentacle 'hands' clasped before it. It didn't quite look happy about the ruling, but there was obviously nothing it could do about it. Grim was silent for a moment, still in shock about the sudden demand for him to marry. He supposed that the Vampiress and a few others at the table had a heavy hand with forcing that decision. Years ago there had been a heavy trial amongst some of them and many others to become his bride when he had been more open to the idea of getting married. When it had turned into a all-out free-for-all catfight contest he had become deeply disgusted and refused to acknowledge any sort of winner. He much preferred finding someone himself, and did not want someone to marry him because he was the powerful Grim Reaper. And for a long time he had thought he had avoided all that nonsense since.

Apparently he was dead wrong.

Suddenly angry at their nerve to order him to marry, he prepared to give them a piece of his mind when he suddenly realized there wasn't much he could do other than choose one of the two options. What they were demanding of him was not against the rules (something he had been trying to get rectified for a long time now) and they did have a valid reason for demanding a change. Greatly pissed at the corner they had managed to back him into, he chose his answer, checking himself to make sure that his tone would be civil as he informed them of his decision.

"Very well…"

Mandy was lead through a series of halls and courtyards. The blue man (as by this time she had figured him to be male) had briefly paused to the entrance to one hall before leading her further on, proclaiming that they hadn't enough time to have her change into something more 'suitable' before meeting the Grim Reaper. She was finally dropped off at the entrance to what seemed to be a great-hall and told to go inside and wait like the others. She pushed through the slit in the curtains, expecting to find courtiers and other people waiting to have audience with the Reaper and was surprised to suddenly find herself in an audience room filled with women, or at least she assumed they were all women as she couldn't tell with some of them. Most of them had broken up into groups and were talking amongst themselves, giggling like little girls doing something naughty.

Disgusted at this sudden affront to her tomboy side, she moved to the back of the room where it was relatively clear, as she found it rather difficult to get anywhere near the dais where a lone hulking spiked chair stood. They were all dressed in finery ranging from ridiculously modest to barely there. Quite a few of them were wearing more jewelry than clothing, apparently thinking that showing off their 'assets' would push them higher up the queue.

_Where is that bonehead?_

"I shall choose a wife. It may take a while, however."

Grim spat the words out, feeling nauseous with the task that lay out before him. Granted, it would be easy to find a woman willing to marry him, but if he had to marry someone, it would be someone he could stand. Not one of those simpering idiots that flocked around him at Balls.

"I'm afraid that there is a bit of a time limit, Mr. Reaper." The tentacle creature admitted, glaring briefly at the Vampiress and others who were fairly beaming at his answer. It half expected some of them to get up and start cheering or performing touch-down dances then and there.

"What sort of time limit?" Grim's words were like ice needles, and the tentacle creature suppressed a shiver at them. He was not going to like the next bit of news. The Vampiress beat it to revealing them, however and it cringed as she spoke while standing.

"A vast selection of prospective brides has gathered in the Fall Audience hall." She beamed- most likely thinking of adding herself to those numbers once they reached the hall.

"And I am expected to meet with each of 'dem and then choose one before you all?" The tentacle creature didn't think his words could get any colder than the last time he spoke, but apparently he had underestimated the depth of anger the Grim Reaper held onto.

"Of course not, silly!" The Vampiress giggled annoyingly. "Your scythe will choose the one that fits the occupation the most by glowing purple! We just have to parade them in front of you!" She giggled some more about that, overly amused by some inner joke of hers. Grim suddenly got this disturbing image of women doing a conga line past his scythe as it played 'Duck, Duck, Goose.' He changed it to the scythe slicing off the heads of the 'Ducks' (starting with the Vampiress before him) and felt a little bit better. Without a word and a glare that spoke volumes, he stood and left the room, heading for the mentioned hall. The others hastily rose to follow.

She had been standing there leaning against the wall for a good ten minutes, trying to ignore her migraine and sucking down one cough drop after another. She was glad for once that instead of her nose running like it had yesterday; it had apparently decided to dry up completely to focus on her throat. It was only by keeping a cough drop in her mouth did she avoid breaking into a racking coughing fit every three to four minutes. She was about to storm off to find Grim herself when she saw him stalk through the curtain to one side of the massive chair, a nervous attendant following him closely. She caught a brief glance of more people following him out from the curtain before her line of sight was obscured by a mass of squealing estrogen. She didn't catch what the attendant said, and then the mass of women started moving. Slowly, but gradually the numbers started to diminish with an occasional wail of disbelief and anger. There were one or two occasional spats where the woman apparently didn't believe whatever news she had gotten, as Mandy still couldn't hear what was going on up front. After a while the ranks had thinned enough for her to catch glimpses of Grim sitting in the chair with the scythe held out with a blank look that barely veiled anger. He clearly did not want to be there. He didn't seem to notice or see her, and she was getting more impatient by the minute. Feeling dizzy, she decided she had had enough of waiting and just wanted to get Grim and go home so she could rest and perhaps take more cold medicine. Pushing and elbowing her way through the crowd, she quickly reached the front amid angry protests from those she elbowed. One had managed to elbow her back good though, and she was sure to have a bruise the next day. Normally she would go back for that person, but she just wanted to leave _now_.

"Grim!" She growled, storming up the three steps that took her to his side.

"We are going home **NOW**!" She ignored the various gasps and shrieks her actions got and grabbed him by the robes, fully prepared to drag his bony butt out of there if she had to. It wasn't until she noticed the look of shock and horror on his face to realize that he was not looking at her, but at his scythe. Curious, she glanced over and saw that it was close enough to her head for her to see her slightly distorted reflection in the purple glowing metal. Wait, purple glow?

"Grim, why is your scythe glowing purple?" She wondered, her grip on him loosening somewhat in her surprise.

"Oh, dis' can't be happenin'!" Grim groaned and dropped his head (not literally.) He caught sight of the choker she wore and groaned again, knowing that she would ask about that later. If there was a later once she found out what she had done. His mind barely acknowledged the outfit she was wearing, too preoccupied with the feeling of doom gathering about his skull.

"Congratulations young lady!" An overly friendly-sounding bird Lycanthrope grinned. Her grin vanished at the glare she got.

"For what?" Mandy glared from the brightly plumaged woman, to Grim, then to her again, suspiciously. The bird-woman blinked at her.

"Why, becoming engaged to the Grim Reaper of course- isn't that why you came here?" The woman said, surprised. She was surprised further when Mandy froze, the color draining from her face as Grim sank lower into his chair, his hood hiding his skull from view save for part of his jaw. The purple glow seeped off the scythe and began to gather around her left hand, but she didn't notice in her shaking Grim.

"Engaged? ENGAGED?!!" She shrieked, her cool demeanor right out the window and into the abyss outside. Everyone else gaped at her treating the Grim Reaper so roughly, even the guards were too shocked to think to stop her.

"ALL THIS WAS TO FIND YOU A _BRIDE_?! THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA MARRY YOU, NO MATTER WHAT SOME STUPID GLOW SAYS!!" She was barely making sense in the hysteria that was creeping into her voice now. Grim suddenly stood up, anger on his face directed fully towards her. She paused in surprise, suddenly finding him much closer and took a step back so she could see more than his robes. His hand darted out and grabbed her wrist in a hard grip, pulling the fabric from it and forcing it up between them.

"FOOLISH WOMAN! Once this is on your finger there is **NO** going back for either of us!" He roared, his actions made her look at the hand he was presenting to her face and she gaped at the beautiful engagement ring that had formed from the purple glow on the ring finger.

Of her left hand.

"What…" She whispered quietly, the fight gone from her as she stared at the ring. He pulled her closer to him as he growled angrily at her.

"We are to be married now, my _fiancée_." He said the last word with venom and she looked up into his eye sockets with wide eyes. He paused, surprised at the emotions swimming below the glassy surface before they blanked. Grim's scythe vanished as he stooped to catch Mandy as she surprised the hell out of him by fainting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Do not own or profit from, blah, blah, blah...

**Notes:** A half candle-mark is roughly a half-hour. A full candle-mark would, of course, be an hour. A rather old way of marking the passage of time. Just so no one is confused...and if they are, then they skipped this.

Also, I feel that I should apologize if the wording gets a little...uh...fancy? I was reading before writing this and so it put me in an odd writing mood. Hope you enjoy (and understand) it nonetheless.

...I'm starting to get annoyed with writing Grim's accent. I keep forgetting to, and when I do I have a hard time to keep it from sounding like redneck instead of Jamaican. :p

Chapter 5

Grim sat in the empty room, glaring into the shadows of the space which had previously been filled with potential brides. His...fiancée...was in the guest room closest to his chambers, still unconscious as far as he knew with an attendant watching over her. He had carried her there after her uncharacteristic faint, telling Artien to make sure that everyone was gone within a half candle-mark. And they had, leaving him to sit, or rather collapse, into his chair to think. He idly twirled the scythe that had provided the subject to his thoughts, occasionally stopping it with his skull reflecting in the blade.

Mandy as his..._shudder___fiancée__

Mandy.

Of all the people that the scythe could have chosen...it had to be Mandy.

He didn't know what her reaction would be once she woke up, but he knew it wouldn't be a good one and he wasn't in any hurry to find out. Thoughts and feelings swirled in a chaotic jumble in his skull, crashing into each other and creating new questions the more he thought. Anger, resentment, guilt...They formed the mainstream. He brief feeling of lust toward Mandy yesterday seemed like a whole new part of a bigger problem now. He was fond of Mandy, yes, and a part of him that he would rather not admit to lusted after her, but that did not mean that he ever wanted to **marry** her! In some way he felt resigned to it, as it was rather moot to fight against the magic that now bound them. Once a High Engagement had been established, whether or not it was against one or both of their wishes, it could not be undone. Once the magic had been called upon and a suitable candidate found, that was that. Such a thing he had avoided for several hundred centuries, only to now fall bound to a mortal woman. While he had wished to not be bound to a giggly fool, this was not what he had in mind.

Though he had never liked the idea of High Engagements, as he felt it rather unfair to those who did not wish to enter them, he knew that they were the best way to ensure a true match that would last whether or not the two liked each other. Now...now he loathed them with the whole of his being and thought that they should be done with forever. A thought he was sure would dim over time, but in his present mind he did not care one whit about and brooded over it just the same.

Already he could feel the "starter" bond, a sort of thin thread that linked one to the other, but still just as strong. If he focused on it completely, he could tell whether or not she was awake yet, and so far she was still out. One side of him was grateful for it, as it gave him more time to think peacefully (or as peaceful as he could get with thoughts such as his) the other side was tense and wanted to get the initial explosion over and done with.

The link thrummed, as though touched by a curious finger and he started. When it happened again, only more drawn out, he suddenly realized that it was Mandy. Even unconscious, she was poking at the new addition and for a moment he felt a strange mixture of surprise and pride. As well-tuned with herself as Mandy always seemed to be, as a mortal of no magical background she shouldn't have sensed this stage of the bond at all. To have done so, while unconscious, was a bit of a feat and he squished down the ridiculous pride that he felt in his Mandy accomplishing such a thing. He sat down heavily, shocked at the possessiveness he had felt in that pride and the fact that he had automatically..._automatically _stood to go to her side the moment he felt that cautious touch. He ran a hand over his face with a groan, peeking through his fingers to stare blindly across the room. If the bond as it was now was effecting him in such a way, he dreaded to find out what his reactions would be when the full marriage bond was set. He set his jaw in a hard line. If this was what such a bond was like, love or no, he knew that things were bound to get out of control if he was not absolutely careful. For a brief craze-filled moment images of Mandy having similar reactions floated through his skull and he choked. The choking turned into laughter that gained a hysterical note before trailing off into disbelieving, self-mocking chuckles. He was sure now that he was around the bend, gone funny, lost some marbles and about to do a swan dive into insanity. The laughter trailed off after a few moments and in the silence he struggled to pull himself and all the centuries of self-discipline he had together to deal with the issues at hand. He could not let such a thing as merely getting married to a mortal throw him off the deep end. His pride and sense of responsibility would not allow it. No one, female, male, either, none, mortal or no would ever, _ever_ get him to lose himself. Either to them themselves, or to insanity.

Mandy would get too much enjoyment out of it anyhow.

He pulled himself up, an impassive expression on his face and jaw set. The Grim Reaper was death and death cared for and was hurt by none. He stalked out of the room, his shadows briefly touching all around him before drawing back to swirl around his feet after him down the hall.

Mandy awoke with a dull headache and something damp and soothingly cold against her forehead. For a moment she was unsure on where she was, blankly staring up into the canopy of the bed she was laying in. For a few moments, she had a sense of calm about her, as though nothing could touch her which is why she was unconcerned with waking in a bed not her own. The small waif of a demon maid watched with some fascination as the expressions on Mandy's face changed. Blank indifference to slow blinking as previous memories began to come back to her, to the dark rage that grew from the appearance of irritated to that of murderous. She reached up to grab the compress as she sat up, crushing it in a fist as she glared down at the hand that gripped it and the ring adorning it, the water dripping down her arm. She threw the compress across the room, ignoring the gasp from the maid, and then proceeded to try to yank the offending ring off her finger. After much unsuccessful scrabbling in which she managed to knick herself good enough with her nails to draw blood, she finally gave up on getting the damn thing off at the moment. She rounded on the maid that was watching the events with wide eyes and turned to slide off the bed.

"**Where is he?**" She growled, her voice raspy. Her throat contracted, threatening to start a round of coughing, but she viciously swallowed it down, refusing to show any sort of weakness in front of someone she did not know. She could cough all she wanted after this "engagement" nonsense was dealt with. No one told her who to marry, even less so an inanimate object. The fact that is was Grim made no difference to her, and she knew that she would be mad even if it was someone else she was being forced to marry. To marry, even her, he would need her permission as she was not going to lose her "friend."

He did not have her permission.

Nor would he get it.

To marry her or anyone else.

Especially anyone else.

When the maid did not answer her right away, she asked the question again, but more forcefully. The maid, unaware of the reason for the Lady's anger, shrank back in fear. "Of...Of whom do you speak, Mistress?" She gulped. Seldom does she see mortals, but never had she seen one that scared her so much. The fact that her reply seemed to anger Mandy more did not help her disposition and for a moment she felt like she was going to start crying. She held her tears though, as it was unseemly to cry in front of a guest. Much less one who was going to be marrying Lord Reaper.

"THE GRIM REAPER!! WHERE IS HE?!" Mandy shouted as loudly as her throat would allow her, which was not much considering, but it was loud enough to shock and further frighten the poor demon before her. She did not get a reply in words, which was well enough, since the creature in question stormed into the room without bothering to knock. The maid took it as a cue to make a hasty exit, and curtsied to Grim and then hurried past him at his dismissive nod. She shut the door quickly and quietly behind her. Neither of the room's occupants noticed the slight bang that the door still made despite the maid's caution, too busy having a stare-down of sorts.

"Grim." Mandy growled, now unsure on how to begin. She wasn't sure yet if she wanted to bother talking to him before ripping him apart and taking him home in a bag. Decisions, decisions...

"Mandy." He replied flatly, seemingly not effected by her dangerous tone at all. He was waiting for the outburst to come and steadily ignored the..._interesting_ outfit she had chosen to wear into his domain. He was waiting for the inevitable screaming denial(s) of the engagement and the demand to remove the ring which he was sure that she had already tried herself, and failed, if the red marks on her hand was any indication. When Mandy lost her cool, as rare as it was, she was surprisingly loud about it. He got a surprise of his own though, as instead of the yelling he had heard moments before walking into the room, she simply glared at him silently for a minute more.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Her voice was quiet and darker than his shadows, if one could imagine such at thing; he could now. As she voiced her question, she waved with her left hand to punctuate her point and he understood the gesture. The women that had been in the hall, the glow and the ring, and the engagement. Everything. He decided to be as short and to the point with the whole story as he could be. The background bit of _why_ would require some time and explanations that he had a feeling would not take place that day.

"To keep up with my duties, I have to take a wife. The women were 'dere to apply for it, but it is the scythe 'dat chooses. We have to get married now, we have no choice. There is no way out of it once a High Engagement is set." Grim stated. Her glare went a bit blank around the edges as she processed his words, which turned into a disbelieving stare.

"High Engagement? I will not marry you because of some backwards Cinderella-slipper contest." Mandy said, her stare morphing back into a glare, making Grim wish that she would settle on one or the other. "So enough of this farce and get this damn ring off of me!" She demanded, thrusting the hand with the offending ring out in front of her. Grim chuckled slightly and her glare intensified. How dare him laugh at her!

"Foolish woman. As much as I would like to, it's impossible. With a High Engagement we are bound 'til we die." It was curious; now that he was speaking to her he was calm. His mask in place and holding well.

"Until _I _ die you mean." Grim shook his head at her reply, "Ya' will have 'da same life-span as I, but you will not age." He imparted _that_ bit of information to her. A eternity with her. It was something he did not want to think about just now. Why couldn't it have been someone he could at least get along with easier? "Immortality?" She asked quietly, dropping her hand as though seriously considering it rather than arguing as she had been. He did not like the road that might lead down. "You can still be killed, but it would be much, much harder." He said sharply.

"I will not marry you." She ground out, feeling the argument start to slip away. There was no way she would marry him!

"We have no choice." He replied evenly.

"Bullshit."

His blank, almost bored face turned into an angry glare and he mentally took hold of their link and pulled hard. He inwardly winced, but held steady, but Mandy was not so prepared and fell to her knees gasping in sudden pain. "Feel 'dat, mortal? _'D__at,_" He spat, looming over her. "Is our _link._ We are bound together whether either of us likes it or not!" Mandy was quiet and simply stared at the floor, and for a moment he regretted using the bond in such a way, but knew it would be the only way to convince her that this was no laughing matter.

"This can not be broken, so I suggest that ya' learn to live with it. Only until after the marriage ceremony is complete will ya' be able to remove the ring, unless ya' cut off yer finger." He said quietly and then turned away from her. The sight of her kneeling on the floor staring blankly at it was not something he enjoyed seeing. It was wrong somehow. He went to the door and paused, "I suggest ya' get some rest, dinner will be in a few hours. Tomorrow we will begin plans for the ceremony. If ya' need anything, just ring. My rooms are connected with yours through the carved door over 'dere." He opened the door and left, closing it quietly behind him, but Mandy hardly noticed.

Eventually Mandy got off the floor. It was only about a minute after Grim had left her, but at the rate her mind was whirling, it felt like it had been much longer. She abruptly stood and sat heavily on the edge of the bed, nearly tripping over her boots sitting neatly by the side.

Marriage to the Grim Reaper.

While she had thought of what it would like to live in the Underworld, and occasionally on how skeletons could procreate since she had met his parents a couple times, this was _not _something she had thought about. Not really. While it would be interesting, she was sure, she didn't see herself as a necrophiliac even though she was rarely attracted to anyone as it was; living or dead.

But if this thing with the 'High Engagement' and 'bonds' was true, then she was in deep shit. There was no way she could have **not** felt him tug on their 'bond', as it had felt like someone had tried to teleport all of her organs several inches forward. The bond was very much real, oh yes. For a moment she felt a spark of depression. Now she would never be proposed to normally, so she could turn it down normally. Never be wooed to the point where she would either crush them under her heel or...on the (very) off-chance...fall in love herself. Childish dreams of romance that she didn't know she ever harbored slowly and quietly slipped away, like sand in her fingers. She came back to herself abruptly when she found herself starting to sniffle over it and grew angry at herself. Fairy-tale dreams like those were for mundanes and those ignorant to reality, and she was no where near the criteria for either of them.

She tried to prod at their 'bond', to perhaps see if she could 'yank' on it like Grim had done. She felt something, but it was faint. Just a slight "off" feeling or line that she couldn't quite grasp, only brush against occasionally. It was similar to those 3D illusion posters, she mused, by focusing on it you were unable to see the hidden shapes. Or in this case, line. _Not_ focusing on it didn't help at all, so she decided to leave it alone for now. Somehow she would find an out or some kind of loophole to end this engagement. She would not be married to the Grim Reaper, as interesting as that could be.

Mandy was her own and would not be forced into anything.

She didn't want to think about the possibly of **not** finding a way out just yet. She would not allow for that. In the meantime, she would go with it and look for a way to stop it. She just hoped that she would have the time she needed to find such a way.

Suddenly drained, she lay back down on the bed and quickly fell asleep, vowing before she totally lost herself to unconsciousness that the next time she saw Grim, she would deck him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Do not own or profit from…

**Notes: **I know, I know…The last chapter mentioned Mandy having a nose when she really doesn't. I just used that because I didn't really think about it, and she is still able to smell, so I believe that she has some sort of nose there.

Okay, I admit that I really didn't think about it and was writing on automatic, happy now?

Sorry for the delay in updating. The power supply in my computer completely died, so until I can get a replacement for it, I have to use my roommate's instead. And then hers died so it took me even longer to get to a computer that worked. 

Also, I've been busy with real life shit, like usual...

Also, 'Fireblade Quickclaw'…yes, Grim is dead, though why 'officially' so, I didn't really understand from your review. I put in the 'dead wrong' thing because it was a pun.

Thank you to everyone who reviews this story! I'm really glad that people actually like it:D

I added POV markers so the changes would be less confusing. It may break up the flow a bit, but won't let me have the text in the way I would like.

**Chapter 6**

_Mandy's POV_

It was a knocking on the door that woke her from her sleep, and this time she woke immediately and fully aware.

She growled in annoyance, but got up anyways, smoothing down the kinks in her skirt and straightening her top so she didn't wind up flashing someone. It was hard enough not to do that in the skirt as it was. It must have shrunk in the wash or something, or she finally hit her last growth spurt because it had never been this short before.

"Who is it?" She had to clear her throat before she could get the sentence out clearly and at a volume that could be heard through the heavy metal-bound door. It opened a fraction, hesitated and then opened all the way to admit a stocky green-skinned woman even though Mandy hadn't told them that they could come in.

"I've come to fit you for your dinner attire, Milady." She curtsied slightly, clasping her hands under her apron in what was obviously habit for her. She turned to indicate that Mandy should follow her into the sitting room that she had yet to see. She narrowed her eyes at the woman for a moment, but walked into the adjoining room anyways. The seamstress did not appear to be phased in the least by her attitude and bustled over to where a rolling clothing rod, a work box and a stool awaited them. On the clothing rod hung several beautifully made dresses, ranging from beautiful to gaudy. On the floor of it were shoes that matched them.

"Please step up on the stool and we will begin, Milady." She pulled a measuring tape and writing pad from her apron pocket and waited for Mandy to comply with her request. When she had stepped up on the stool, the woman flipped open the note pad to a blank page and placed it on top of the work box. She then started measuring her, chatting all the way about Mandy's attributes and how lovely she was, occasionally calling out the measurement number she had just taken. As she called them out, they appeared on the lines of the pad as she spoke. Mandy watched it for a moment, figuring it to be some sort of enchantment and quickly grew bored with it.

"A dark red will become you, I think." The seamstress finished her measurements and the notepad snapped closed on itself with a small 'snap.' She rummaged though the overly-stuffed rack and pulled out a silk red gown with lace trim, glanced at Mandy, frowned and put it back. She pulled several more out, occasionally holding one up to Mandy, but continued to put them back with a frown, a disapproving noise or a "Oh, that will not do." Finally she pulled out a deep dark red velvet one that had a black bodice embroidered with red roses, all trimmed with jet beads in a lace-like pattern. She held it up to Mandy and smiled, a expression that didn't quite fit on her weathered face.

"This! This will look lovely on you dear!" She made Mandy undress and then helped her into the chosen dress. It was much lighter than she had expected, and once laced up in the back, Mandy had to admit that she looked pretty good in it, even if it was a dress that required uncomfortable petticoats and corset. The choker and hair looked fine with it, and with a pair of leather ankle-boots, she looked very much like she belonged in a castle like she was.

_Like I go with the décor, fiancée to the Grim Reaper. _

She scowled at the thought, but told the woman that she would wear it to dinner. While it would have made a statement to refuse to wear anything than her own clothes to dinner, something she had contemplated; it made another, more subtle statement to whoever might accompany them. That she was there under protest and that they could not judge her on her clothing in this case, so they would have to deal with her intellect. Sometimes it was better to go with a few things to make the overall effect better for when she broke the engagement.

High Engagement bullshit, regular engagement bullshit, or shot-gun wedding, it made no difference to her. It would not happen.

_Grim's POV_

There were times when he was really, really glad that he was not female. This was one of those times.

He could only imagine all the crap that the ladies had to go through to get into the layers of petticoats, corset and dress that many of them favored. And if they didn't wear something that required much time to get into (or much fabric, really) it seemed they compensated that time with hair and make-up. His fancy robes were pretty much only different from his regular ones in the fabric (silk and velvet, at least he didn't sweat) and shiny black geometric embroidery trim on the sleeves and hood. Easy.

Most of the guests were already at the table; those who didn't spend huge amounts of time getting ready for just an introductory dinner, or had the mind to prepare ahead of time were there first. The Vampiress annoyance was one of the last to arrive, in style of course. She was pouting with her earlier failure to be chosen by the scythe, but was taking it far better than some of the others. Two or three of the Council members were pissed as though it was his fault they or their daughter did not get chosen; a few others were sad, and the majority seemed to be in good spirits. The tentacle creature that Grim had always liked seemed to be greatly amused that none of the meddling Council members or their offspring were chosen. "At least you won't have to deal with _them_." Is what it had chuckled quietly to him before sitting, and while he agreed, he wasn't sure yet if he would have preferred one of them over Mandy.

Mandy was the last to arrive, but that was by design. Everyone stood as she was announced, and Grim left his place to go bring her to her seat. The curtains veiled most of the new arrivals from the room until they stepped further in, a rather cleverly designed dramatic feature that showed the person from the ground up as they entered. Of what they could see of Mandy was that she was dressed as fine as they, something a few of them hadn't expected. They could also see the bottom half of Grim's robes as he went to offer her his arm. Another feature of the doorway was that you couldn't hear low spoken words from within that room past the curtain (mostly in case the new arrival had to tell the Announcer their name) but they could tell that there was some sort of conversation going. There was a clear sound of flesh hitting bone, and Grim staggered a little bit before straightening, and the Council members all glanced around at each other, wondering just what was going on.

Grim and Mandy then walked in, he leading her with her hand daintily placed in his which showed off the engagement ring raised at chest level. A large ruby with smaller Amethysts on either side set in white gold swirls the band made to connect to the Ruby, decorated with small diamonds. It was obviously hideously expensive, but tasteful and some of the Council members eyed it with envy. Some even shot their husbands disapproving glances while fingering their own rings. Others simply marveled at how well the mortal woman had cleaned up, now looking much like a Queen than the gothic-punk brat that had appeared to them earlier.

Grim jaw was a little crooked, which he discreetly fixed as he moved to his own chair after standing Mandy in front of hers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of da' Council and 'dere Own, it is my…pleasure, to introduce to you da' woman dat will become my bride. Mandy. She may be a mortal, but please treat her with da' same care and respect as ya' do me." A part of his mind snickered inwardly at that; care and respect? There wasn't much of that here. Mandy nodded to them as they unanimously greeted her and sat, giving them no indication as to the situation and company being anything new to her. To all appearances, she seemed to be another Underworld Courtier, until you looked at her aura and could see that she was mortal. Grim sat next and then everyone else did, as he was their Host and it was only polite.

_Mandy's POV_

Grim didn't seem too surprised when she immediately decked him upon seeing him again. She had nearly cracked his jaw and sent it flying as it was, but he took it in stride and still took her arm to lead her to dinner.

This was a much different Grim than she was used to. He hadn't blubbered once and seemed to be finally in his element….Even though his element seemed to be trying to burn him…

The Council of Horrors and what seemed to be their spouses or guests was very much like she had imagined them to be. It was disappointing in a way. Courtiers and the like were supposed to be well versed in the subtle ways of subterfuge and all that, but many of them were just too easy for her to read. Only a couple of them approved of her being there, while everyone else disliked her or outright hated her. She scanned over them, assessing them one by one quickly. Only a couple of them might prove to provide her with either trouble or support. Only two of them seemed to catch her scrutiny, the Vampiress in a very low-cut gown, and a skeleton in a purple suit with a matching top hat sitting on the back of his chair.

She had decided during the walk there that she would act her role in this farce performance, but would change the script in some ways during it. They would get the Courtier Mandy, and either enemies or allies would be made. Either one could be used as pawns to find a way to annul the engagement. It seemed now her hobby-interest in history and the courts would be an asset, for once.

Once the dishes started arriving, she was also glad that etiquette was included in many of those books, as otherwise she wouldn't have known exactly what to do, and in some cases she still had to guess. It being a dinner was just a cover of sorts, as conversation was the dish to be mostly had, and she was the occasion. Many of them wasted no time in getting around to their questioning, their curiosity too much to talk in polite circles before getting to the point.

There were of course the expected questions…

_Just how did they meet? _

_How old is she?_

Things that held little importance, but they were keen to know.

_Why did you faint? _

That one was just plain annoying, and she spared a small glare for the one to voice it.

"I passed out because I have been ill." Was all she said, but they talked out the rest of it among themselves, figuring the shock to be too much for her while sick; which for once had actually been the case. The last she remembered was Grim yelling at her, but toward the end his voice in her ears had grown faint under a dull roaring. All the activity she had been doing was too much too soon, and her temperature fluctuated violently. At first she thought she would throw up all over his robes (which would have been slightly entertaining), but the bottom of her stomach suddenly dropped out and she found herself staring up at nothing as her consciousness left her. Part of her wondered what Grim himself made of it. Knowing him, he would have already drawn his own conclusions of what he saw in her upturned face at that moment, but would of course keep quiet. If he knew what was good for him.

"What do you intend to contribute once you and Lord Reaper are married? You are human, but do you have any powers or skills that might help the Reaper Lands?" The Vampiress smirked, her question bordering on outright rude. Her neighbor, the skeleton in the purple suit grinned as she asked this.

"Yes, please tell us, Lady Mandy. I'm sure everyone is also keen to know whether or not you will be a good wife to Lord Reaper." He twirled a card from nowhere across his knuckle-bones, flashing the face as the three of Spades before the card vanished with a flick of the wrist. The other guests were somewhat shocked at this rude display the two made, but could not properly argue that they did not want to know the answers to those questions. All eyes were on Mandy, and out of the corner of her own eyes she could see that Grim seemed to have developed a slight twitch.

"_If_ we are married, than I will be taking an active role in all the duties there may be, as an equal partner. I'm not the type to be content with being simply a good Hostess while my…husband, does all the work." She said coolly.

_Grim's POV_

_Unless it involves doing the dishes. _Grim couldn't help to think. He, nor did anyone else overlook the "If" at the beginning of that statement. The Vampiress raised an elegant eyebrow at this, and the skeleton in the suit continued to look amused, if not more so than he had been. Just about everyone else at the long table were either aghast or amused by her use of the word 'If'.

For some odd reason the presence of a mortal made them slip up, forget themselves and allow their Courtier masks to slip just a bit. A stupid thing to do in Grim's opinion, no matter the circumstance. Anyone could use that to your disadvantage, whether they be mortal or not, Courtier or an average resident. The fact that it was Mandy just made it that many times more dangerous as she seemed to miss a lot less than any one of those other people would.

"If I know one 'ting, it's 'dat Mandy can oversee 'tings and organize quite well, and as many of ya' may well know, I'm not 'da most organized guy around. I'm sure it will all work out." Grim interjected, the first thing he had said since the questions had begun. Mandy glanced at him, but nodded all the same. He had hoped that would deter them from the whole 'If' thing, but with all the time he had spent in the mortal world, he had forgotten a bit how much of a tenacious bastards most of the Council could be.

"And that's _if _you marry? Please, pray tell, makes you say '_If'_?_" _The Vampiress picked up her goblet that she had been toying with, taking a sip of her blood meal to lend her gaze over the rim of the glass to effect the weight of her words. Grim also looked at Mandy, dreading what she might say. Despite his earlier convictions and strength in regard of the Engagement, Mandy still could make his life, or whatever, a virtual Hell and she still intimidated him.

Frankly, he was amazed that he had come this far without taking time out to panic in the corner for a bit.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Mandy's POV_

Mandy gave the Vampiress a bored look and took a sip of her wine before gracing her with an answer. Mainly it was so she could get some moisture into her throat before all this talking triggered another coughing fit like the one she had in the halls on the way here.

"Anything may change at any moment." She replied mysteriously. She could tell that her aloof attitude was starting to get to some, including the Vampiress if the twitch in her eye she just displayed was any indication. She was getting some entertainment out of this. They had expected to be able to dance around her with questions and find out everything about her without her even realizing it, but instead of the sheep they had gotten the wolf who could dance their dance just as well or better than they. A stalemate had settled over the room for the moment, as they knew they could not press further without being outright rude, and she was not going to offer up anything more.

She finished her glass of wine and within moments of setting it down it was refilled. That was somewhat of a relief as it meant that she would not have to figure out how to sneak a cough drop. She wasn't really worried about being considered a lush as a few of the others were well into their cups by now, and it showed as the topic was turned onto other things and they began talking among themselves.

She knew that it was not over though, not by a long shot with the way that the Vampiress and the Purple-suit skeleton was keeping an eye on her (or...socket, whatever.)

The rest of the meal seemed to go more smoothly, mostly as many of the others had seemed to have grown bored with her for the most part. She kept herself from becoming bored by taking mental notes as the night wore on on who would be useful to her and who might cause her some problems. Most of them were of little use, too content with staying within the bounds of their own little Court nonsense. The one with the multiple tentacles was friendly enough and might be a good source of information. The Vampiress she was fairly certain she could win over to help her with getting rid of the High Engagement, but she was still unsure of the skeleton.

_Grim's POV_

He inwardly cringed. Something he seemed to be doing a lot lately, this time at Mandy's cryptic response. He would have to keep a close eye on her. With responses like that, as level-headed she could be at times there was still a great possibility that she would do something stupid. All in the name of getting rid of their High Engagement.

He couldn't blame her for that, really. It wasn't as though he was too thrilled about it either, but for the moment he was glad that her cryptic remark seemed to have shut up the others for the moment. He could tell that the Vampiress was rather annoyed and he smirked at that. That was another burr in her saddle and to see her annoyed greatly amused him. He didn't like her.

The tedious meal stretched on farther than he would have liked, but eventually ended as tired Lords and Ladies pleaded exhaustion and excused themselves. Grim nodded to the others as they left in ones and twos and, glancing an eye at a equally tired Mandy, decided it was high time to retire as well.

He stood, nodding to everyone left, and thanked them for joining them. They were free to linger in the castle if they wanted, even after he and his..._fiancée_, retired. He turned to Mandy and held out a hand to help her rise, doubting that she would even take it. She looked up at him, seemingly echoing the thought of it being ridiculous for him to even offer, but took it to his surprise after rising a little.

He guided her around her chair in a smooth gesture and whisked her out of the dining hall with her arm tucked into his. The moment they were alone in the corridor she finally tugged her arm free and continued along on her own.

"You should rest. Tomorrow will be...busy. Paperwork an' such." His voice sounded about as thrilled with what tomorrow held as she probably felt. They both had a lot of reading ahead of them, her perhaps more than him as he already knew a lot of it, but he certainly had much more writing to do. Preparations, invitations, equipment and decorations to order...The list already seemed endless.

"Paperwork?" Mandy echoed.

"Yeh. Laws, workings of da' kingdom and reapin' ya' gonna need ta' know." It wasn't at all long before they reached her rooms, next to his. The doors were elegantly carved in fanciful whorls of plants, animals and richly dressed skeletons astride equally skeletal horses in some kind of hunt scene. She had not noticed it when she had left them earlier in the evening.

"Get sum sleep. Goodnight." He had not completely missed the lines under her eyes and the way she weaved as she walked. Or that without his help, she would have not made it out of that chair as she had. She was plainly still sick, though stubborn as ever.

He did not kiss her hand before he retreated, as a fiancée might. He wasn't stupid, at least when it came to self-preservation. Kissing a charging Rhino would be a wiser choice, and would most likely do less damage to his anatomy. He did however, open the door for her and gave a stiff nod, not quite a bow, and left her standing in the doorway as he swiftly walked the short distance down the corridor to his chambers. His door was carved even more than hers, bearing some sort of coat of arms and the frame carved into geometric patterns similar to those on his robes with words in some sort of ancient language woven around the portal.

_Mandy's _POV

Grim disappeared into his rooms without a backwards look. Mandy thought for a moment to go exploring, now that she was unsupervised, but decided against it as another wave of nausea and dizziness made her grip the door. It was only that which had made her take his hand earlier when leaving the dining hall. Once they had gotten to the corridor the feeling had passed enough for her to pull away without falling over. She was still very sick, needed to lay down, and desperately wanted out of the restricting dress that was beginning to chafe a little.

She stepped into her rooms, closing the door behind her and wasn't really surprised to see a servant waiting for her. Not the one she had scared before she noted, but one that looked a bit like a tall Brownie. Her hair was the same dark brown as her leathery skin, which made it seem as though she had a spiky mane under her head scarf. She quickly rose from the fireplace she was tending and bowed.

"If ya' will Lady, we kin git ya' outta dat' dress an' into a prop'r bath an' warmed bed." Her accent was heavy, though Mandy understood enough and allowed her to draw a bath for her and help her undress. With the corset and numerous petticoats, she wouldn't have been able to get out of it herself without ruining the fabric and passing out from exhaustion. And she was already ready to do the latter.

She took a short bath, during which she had banned the servant from the room who would have tried to help her with shampooing. She dried herself and dressed in the simple sleeping gown laid out for her, surprised and annoyed at how much those simple tasks drained her. Clearly all this running around was doing her no good at getting better.

She finally exited the bathing room after making some use of the privy. It had taken her a moment to find the flushing chain. Though there were some modern things in the castle, it seemed that great pains had been made to at least make the new additions fit in with the old decor.

The servant didn't seemed surprised or hurt when she slapped away her hands when attempting to arrange the blankets around her body. She seemed to be figuring out Mandy's disposition and started to back off at her silent cues. She retrieved the hot bricks that had been used to warm the bed before Mandy got in, put them back in their sheltered spot on the hearth and left Mandy with a little bow.

Once alone and settled, Mandy struggled to stay awake to plot her moves for tomorrow, but between the warmth and comfort of the soft bed she finally succumbed to much needed sleep with a slight frown.

_Later the next morning..._

She felt as though she was back in collage again. Breakfast had been a short, tense affair with only the few courtiers that seemed to have stayed overnight in the castle (their own homes being too far away to leave that night.) Afterwards she and Grim had been whisked away in different directions. Him surrounded by Advisors in the direction of either the Audience hall or perhaps a study. She was pulled in a tide of well dressed hand maidens and a couple Schoolers, towards a huge Library as she soon found out.

If there was anything of hers that could be called a passion, it was that of reading. It was enormous, two stories tall with sweeping stair cases, a scattering of comfortable looking furniture, and rolling ladders with brass fittings. She very much wished she could shake her escorts and go exploring, her fingers itching to wander among the neat shelves and their treasures.

Instead she was to sit, study the ancient tombs laid out on the table before her while an ancient stick of a man droned on about the contents. Granted the chairs were as comfortable as they looked, but it was not much comfort against the dry lecture she was getting.

"Enough!" She interrupted his flow of dialog, startling him into momentary silence as though he had quite forgotten she was there at all.

"I can read them just fine myself, so shut up will you?" She growled. If it wasn't for the fact that she was hoping to find something that would help get rid of the High Engagement among the stacks on the table (not to mention that they were interesting in themselves) she would have stormed out of the wonderful Library long ago if only it meant that she would get away from his high and dry ramblings.

The man could positively make _anything _sound boring!

He gaped at her for a moment, his face going purple before he made a offended sound and stormed from the room. The others sitting nearby were shocked, but also somewhat relieved as it meant that they were no longer in danger of falling asleep from listening to him either.

Smirking, she turned back to the books and scrolls. The history of the kingdom she had skimmed over mostly. She would take a book back with her to read when she could, but at the moment she was more absorbed in finding out more about the High Engagement and possible ways she could dissolve it. They were little real help. Whoever had written these accounts had been at the very least a closet romantic, as they were written in such a flowery way that each account of a High Engagement had a sort of 'Happily Ever After' twist to the end spanning the entire history of the spell from it's birth to current day. She wish she could meet whoever wrote it and slap them silly...sillier...some of these were almost cavity-inducing.

"Is there anything else on this High Engagement? Any other texts that describe how it will progress other than this drivel?" She demanded, pushing the last tome in the stack away from her in disgust. That one had been written by a worse author than the previous. They stared at each other for a bit, then shook their head as one. For some reason their hive-mind behavior angered her more than the answer she got and she stormed away from them to search the stacks herself.

The door to her room never made any noise, she noticed. Aside from the click of the latch it was quite silent for it's size and weight. Again, she had someone else open it for her, though this time was a passing servant she had appropriated to carry the books she wanted to look at later. She had chased the group of handmaidens out of the library hours ago, as they never broke from their annoying habit of acting as one. So creepy.

She hadn't found much, but there were a couple promising books among the stack the young Page was burdened under. All of the "official" books or books that specifically talked about High Engagements had been among those on the table. Still, she would look through these and see if there was anything that was missed and in second thought she had also grabbed a couple of the history books she had only skimmed through by the barest of margins. She hadn't been told that she couldn't remove books from the library, either by the gaggle back there, the Historian or the Page. So she had also grabbed those that interested her on other levels.

The Page deposited the heavy stack on the first table he came across, nearly knocking over a slender small vase, bowed and then hastily exited the room, probably to get away before she could think of anything else to make him do. She left the books on the stand by the door for the moment to investigate a small parcel on the table sitting on the table by the fireside chair. It was wrapped simply, with brown paper and string. She didn't want to touch it, really. She was sure to have some strong enemies in this world who wouldn't think themselves above getting rid of her, even in such a direct manner as placing a bomb in her rooms. Then again, it could be a gift from one of her supporters, or even something from Grim, though she doubt that he would present it in such a way. She was debating whether or not she should touch it or leave, or get someone else to investigate it when she noticed a folded piece of paper on the floor nearby. It looked much like a card, one that had possibly been propped upright on the table and had fallen or blown off. She picked that up and read the short message inscribed in stiff-handed print.

**Freedom awaits. Enjoy. **

A moment after she had finished reading the short message, the words shimmered and the paper crumbled to ash in her hand. Freedom, huh? She reached for the parcel, certain now that it wasn't something that would blow up. She hefted it in hand for a moment, staring down at the plain packaging. It felt like a book...Upon investigation, that proved to be true. As plain as the wrappings it had been in (which also crumbled to ash after removal) the book appeared to be more of a journal. The text inside was handwritten in a slanted and cramped style. Some parts of it dissolved into handwriting so bad that it made her eyes water to attempt to read it. Several words caught her eye though and it was fairly obvious that this is what she had been looking for...

But who had left it for her?


End file.
